Electromechanic wall calendar clock



Feb. 2, 1954 R. SOLARI 2,667,735

4 ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK Filed Aug. 6, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 In u nb R m i320 Salarf Feb. 2, 1954 R. SOLAR] ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK s Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 6 1951 Feb. 2, 1954 R. SOLAR! ELECTROMECHANI C WALL CALENDAR CLOCK 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 6. 1951 Feb. 2, 1954 I R. SOLAR] 5 ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK Filed Aug. 6, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 6 wwwma 0240M $51.10;

Feb. 2, 1954 R. SOLAR] 2,567,735

ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK Filed Aug. 6, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Feb. 2, 1954 R. SOLARI 2,667,735

ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK Filed Aug. 6, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 fly f2 INVENTOR. learn I n Pa/4. r1

Patented Feb. 2, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTROMECHANIC WALL CALENDAR CLOCK Remigio Solari, Udine, Italy, assignor to Solar! Remigio & C. Fabbrica Orologerie Industriali, Udine, Italy, a. company of Italy 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to an electromechanical wall calendar-clock, of the type with a rapid release of blades for the automatic indication of the time, the date and also for the month of February in leap years.

An object of this, invention is to provide a construction indicating the day of the week, the day of the month, the month, the hours and the minutes by means of letters and numbers appearing in a dial.

Such letters and numbers are carried by rapid; released blades appearing in openings in the front surface of the clock and they are preferably of equal size.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clock movement under constant stress controlled by a single spring for operating all the mechanisms of the blades whatever may be the indication that thes latter have to give. The constant stress is secured by the displacement due to gravity of a weight which is returned to initial position by the spring. All the mechanism is contained between three flat plates on which are pivoted all the shafts bearing the gears of the movement.

The spring is constantly loaded by an induction electric motor, fed by the common current. In the case of temporary interruption of the current, th spring has a load reserve of about 24 hours.

The movement may be intermittently actuated by an anchor escapernent, in the case of an independent clock, or by an electric receiver instead of the anchor escapement in the case of a clock placed in a clock network and in such case the electric receiver receives the pulses each minute from the central master clock and is operated in synchronism with the other clocks in the network.

Summarizing, the invention is concerned with the combination of the mechanical parts allowing the different synchronous movements of the blades to be obtained and with their operation, as will appear from the detailed description below with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevational view of th dial of the clock;

Figs. 2 and 2 show an elevational rear view of the entire clock;

Figs. 3 and 3 show a cross sectional view of Figures 2 and 2 along section line IIIIII;

Figure 4 shows a cross sectional view of Figure 2' along section line IV-IV;

Figure 5 shows a detail sectional. View similar to that of Figure 4 with the anchor escapement, box in a difierent position;

Figure 6 shows a detail of one of the claw levers, controlling the release of the blades of tens, for indications which require two digits;

Figure 7 shows a detail of a vertical claw lever controlling the blades with horizontal shafts;

Figures 8 to 10 show in three different positions a detail in the displacement of the anchor escapement box, seen from the opposite side with respect to Figures 4 and 5;

Figure 11 is a detail view showing the gearing, its connection to the escapement and the weight, along line XIXI of Fig. 12;

Fig. 12 is a side view of Fig. 11, and

Fig. 13 is a detailed View of the connection of the gearing with the weight.

The clock is contained in a fiat box 1 which may be covered on its front surface by a transparent material and contains all the mechanisms for the blades operation. These blades appear within openings provided in the front part of the box which forms the dial.

The dial 2 (Fig. 1) has an opening 3 in which appears, on two blades with horizontal shafts, the indication of the day of th Week (Monday, Tuesday, etc), an opening 4 in which, on two pairs of blades having vertical shafts, appears the indication of the date of the month, an opening 5 in which, on blades having horizontal shafts appears the indication of the month, and below a sham opening 6 with horizontal development, in which appears the stationary indication Time, an opening 1 in which appears on blades having vertical shafts, the indication of the hour, and an opening 8 similar to the opening l, and in which appears on two pairs of blades with vertical shafts, the indication of the minutes.

As far as the operating mechanism of the clock movement and the release of the blades is concerned, it is to be noted that the form of embodiment shown in the figures relates to the case of a single clock, and it is therefore provided with an anchor escapement.

The anchor escapement is contained, for protection, in a box formed by a small supporting plate In to which is applied a cover 9, for instance of transparent material. The plate I0 is pivoted on the shaft l2! (Figures 8 to 10) so that the whole device may be disengaged from the remainder of the mechanism in order to carry in phase the minutes, as it will be described hereinbelow.

All the gears of the clock movement for the operation of the plurality of blades of the calendar clock are containedbetween three plates H, 12 and I3 and the operation of the gears is effected by the spring contained in the barrel IS. The spring is tensioned by the electrical motor l4, fixed at the outer side of plate it, which operates through a group of reduction gears and the differential gear l5. After the tensioning of the spring is completed a brake ll urged against the rotor of the motor by the disc it stops the motor and tensioning is interrupted. Disc i can move towards the right or left on a threaded portion of the spring shaft 19 so as to follow the tensioning and the releasing of the spring. The spring through the shaft l9 operates the gear 20 mounted on said shaft. The spring is fixed at one end to the shaft 19 and at the other end is fixed to the barrel [6, which in turn is fixed to the gear 2| loosely mounted on the shaft 19.

At the end of a predetermined time period the sector 24 frees the stop 25 and allows the spring to lift the weight 22. At the same time, stop 25 makes a complete revolution and again stops against sector 2t. This operation is repeated each minute. During its lowering, the weight 22, through gears 26, 27 and 2M inparts movement to the escapement of the balance 25. In the return phase, the spring which acts through the gears 29, 39 and 3| besides lifting the weight 22, advances by a mark also disc 32 which bears 60 marks corresponding to the minutes of an hour. Said disc is fixed to a gear 33 and indicates at 34 the minute which begins at that moment. Gear 33, as will be later set forth, controls the transmission which operates the blades indicating the minutes.

The plate Ill, on which the anchor escapement is fixed, may be displaced, through its rotation around the shaft 12! (Figs. 8, 9 and 10), for easy regulation of the setting.

This displacement is carried out when the clock has to be set by advancing or retarding it a given number of minutes. This setting operation is carried out by displacing the lever 35 outside the clock, so as to rotate the vertical shaft 36 on which it is mounted. The shaft 3b is provided with a finger 31 engaging a lever 35 which may rotate in a vertical plane on the shaft 39. The displacement from its usual position, of the lower extremity 40 of the lever 33 rotates the forked lever 41 against the action of the spring 42 (Figs. 8, 9 and 10).

The lever :3! is provided with three arms 43, 44, and 45. The arm 45 is acted on by the end it of lever 38. A rotation of the lever 33 causes a rotation of the shaft I22 on which the forked. lever M is mounted. Inside the cover 9 there is fixed on the shaft I22 a bent fiat spring 46 (Figs. 4 and which upon lowering when the shaft 122 is rotated blocks the balance wheel 28. When the operation of the lever 33 is continued by lever 35, the end 40 of the lever 33 slides along the arm 45 compelling the lever M to further rotate until (Figure the arm 45 abuts the stationary shaft I23, and in order to continue its rotation, compels the balance wheel box to rotate around the shaft l2l. This rotation disengages the different gearings so that the weight 22 may fall together with the sector 24 thus freeing the stop which makes a complete revolution causing the gear 33 to advance a graduation corresponding to a minute. Therefore each operation of the lever 35 causes the clock to advance one minute. To slow the clock the lever 35 need only be partially displaced, so as to accomplish half of its stroke. In this case the balance wheel is stopped and the clock is slowed.

The gear 33 operates, through the pinion 41, the driving rod 48, which, by means of the bevel gears 49 directly actuates the drum 50 comprising ten blades corresponding to the minute units which appear in the opening 8.

Each blade is mounted on a shaft carried by a disc which, in the case of the drum 53 is 5|, and is pressed by a little spiral spring 52 wound on each blade shaft. The spring 52 rotates each blade on its own shaft while the following blade advances the amount necessary to be brought in line with the front surface of the dial. It is to be noted that this operation is the same for all the blades of all the drums for the different indications.

The rod 43 makes a tenth of a complete revolution each minute, and releases a blade of the drum 56 each minute. At the moment of the tenth minute, i. e. when the rod dB and the shaft 5d of the drum 55) have accomplished a complete revolution, the cam 55 (Figure 6) has its step in correspondence with the roller 51 at the end of one arm of a forked lever 53. This arm of the lever is urged on the cam 55 by the spring 53, while the other arm thereof has, pivoted at 60, a claw lever 61 with a tooth 62 for operating the pins 63 carried by a disc 54 fixed on the shaft I21 of the drum 53 for indicating the tens digits of the minutes.

In this way when the shaft 54 has accomplished a complete revolution and shown the ten blades corresponding to the units of the minutes, the step of the cam 55 allows the forked lever 58 to be oscillated. Lever 58 displaces the claw lever 6! and the tooth 62 causes the rotation of the disc 64 for an angle corresponding to the number of the pins 63 carried by said disc, and in this case for a sixth of a complete revolution since there are six of such pins.

The movement of the units of the hours is controlled by the driving rod 65 which is oper ated by the spring contained in barrel l8 through gear 26, a plurality of cooperating gearings, the differential gear 15 and the gear E36. The drive 55 comprises a differential gear 5'1, after which the drive operates a pinion EB engaging a gear 63 fixed on the shaft it) which controls the movements of the drum of the hour units.

Also in this case the directly operated drum H relates to the units of the hours, while drum i2 showing the tens of the hours is operated by the former through a claw system analogous to the one already disclosed with respect to the minute drums.

The release of each blade of the drum "H, through the revolution of the shaft 'lil is controlled by a head cam it carried by the gear 33, which operates a lever 14 pivoted at T5. The end of the lever l4 blocks a pair of stop lugs it and Ti fixed on the actuating shaft Ill 0f the drum H. At the end of a complete revolution of the gear 33 the cam 73 oscillates the lever M and the upper end thereof frees in two successive steps the lugs 76 and 11 located in parallel planes thereby allowing the differential gear 5'! to actuate the shaft 10 for a complete turn. After a complete revolution the stop lugs 75 and '51 are again stopped by the upper end of the lever 14 and remain stationary until the end of the succeeding hour.

The shaft 70, in its revolution rotates the worm gear '53 engaging a gear I29 fixed to a shaft whereon the disc (9 is mounted. A complete revolution of the shaft 70 causes a displacement of the disc 19 for & of a complete revolution,

and the angle of displacement corresponds to an hour.

At the same time the drum ll of the hour units is advanced by the worm 82 which is fixed on the shaft 1d. The drum H rotates a tenth of a revolution, releasing a blade for showing on the dial the successive hour.

For the tens of the hours the release of the blades is the same as that for the tens of the minutes, and precisely at the tenth and at the twentieth hour, a cam fixed on the shaft of the drum it releases a lever which by means of a claw lever of the above described type (Fig. 6), controls the drum P2 of the tens of the hours.

The drum '12 has six blades, two of which are without numbers, two with the number 1, and two with the number 2, and accomplishes a complete revolution every e8 hours, thus allowing a more suitable functioning of the drum.

The disc 29 is provided with a projecting sector 56, placed at such an angular position that it displaces, at the exact moment of midnight, a roller Bl carried by the lever 1d. The sector 38 has a function similar to that of the above mentioned cam '23. When the sector as operates the roller 8 l, the latter displaces the lever M, freeing the lugs W W, allowing the iii to accomplish quickly a number of revolutions so that the dial shows hours zero and minutes zer At the last moment of the revolution of the 5 disc iii, the cam 83 connected to the same disc, allows a movement of the forked lever 3d pivoted on the pin til which lever, by means of its end controls a vertical claw lever 83 of the type shown in Fig. 7.

The vertical claw lever t6 engages with projection 8! one of the pins on a disc iiil fixed on the shaft of the drum 89 for the days of the week, rotating it for one seventh of a turn and thus varying the exposed blade for the days of the week.

The lever as has a projecting arm iii resting on the arm 92 of a crank lever 3i with three arms, pivoted on the shaft 93. The motion of the lever 85 causes the lowering of the arm 92 which displaces the arm as which, by of its tooth 95 engages two stop lugs 91 and carried by a shaft 39 operated by differential gear 6? by means of the gear i id (Fig. 2). The shaft 99 carries the worm gear it! which engages a gear i2 1 (Fig. 3) which in its turn engages the gear 25 keyed on the shaft of the drum in? for the units of the months days.

The drum H32, by means of the claw lever Hi3 similar to that shown in Fig. 6 actuates, at the end of every t n days, the drum its for the tens of months days.

The shaft 9%) (Fig. 2) projects beyond the two step lugs ii? and 98 and carries the worm gear i engaging a gear sec carried by a shaft Hi2 on which are fixed a graduated disc iiifi and a cam 513?. The disc 588 is subdivided so graduations and has the task of bringing from the day 23, 29, 3G or 31 of each month, the day's drum to the 1st of the succeeding month, by acting in a similar way as above described for the functioning of the hours at midnight.

For this purpose the disc N55 has an extension ERG with an edge turned inwardly having four steps corresponding respectively to the days 23, 29, 3c, and 31 of each month.

A complete revolution of the shaft rotates the disc Hi6 for an angle corresponding to one 0:" its graduations.

At the end of a complete revolution of the disc 106 the cam it! releases the lever it?! which is ill connected to the vertical claw lever I09 which controls the drum H0 for the month. In this way the variation for the month is obtained.

In the meantime the lever I05 by means of its arm HI operates the claw lever H2 which engages one of the teeth I I3 of the ratchet wheel H4 which is provided with 48 teeth corresponding to the months of four years in order to comprise the leap year. The depth of the teeth vary according to whether the concerned months have twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one days.

The claw lever H2 at the end of every month, i. e. at the end of a complete turn of the disc [06 displaces the wheel H4 for one tooth. In the tooth corresponding to the month is inserted a lever H5 fixed to a shaft H6. The lever 1 it has an angular motion depending upon the depth of the teeth H3 and causes therefore a rotation of greater or minor amplitude of the shaft Hi5.

At the end of the shaft H6 is fixed the arm H! which is inserted in a double ring H8 (Fig. 3) to which is connected a roller H9 which may slide on a shaft I28. The sliding of the roller occurs against the action of a spring (not shown in figure) acting on the lever i ll.

Owing to the amplitude of the displacement angle of the lever H5 into the teeth H3, there is an angular displacement, for a greater or minor angle, of the lever H1 and thereby a displacement of the roller H9 on the shaft I26. The roller has therefore a definite position in front of the stepped edge on the extension I25 of the wheel it, so that at the end of each month, the roller is in contact, according to the number of days comprised in the concerned month, with the projecting part of extension I26 of the Wheel I06. Said projecting part displaces the roller l l9 and therefore the shaft I 20 which is mounted on an arm 92 of the bell crank 13! which arm, shifting the arm 95 frees the lugs 9'! and 98 allowing the shaft 99 to quickly rotate until the blades, from the last day of the concerned month, i. e. from 28, 29, 30, or 31 are brought to the first day of the following month.

On wheel 32, disc 19, disc I06 and on wheel l M are marked respectively the minutes, hours, months days and the months. The graduations of the discs correspond to the numbers and words of the relative drums, and at any moment the discs may be quickly turned for proper setting.

Blade clocks of small dimensions may be c0n structed having only the indication of the hours and of the minutes and of the date and larger sizes may be used in wall appliances, which have to be clearly seen from a distance.

Iclaim:

1. An electromechanical wall calendar clock comprising in combination a casing having a front wall provided with a plurality of openings vertically and horizontally spaced with respect to each other, at least one drum at each opening, a shaft for each said drum, a plurality of blades on each said drum, the blades of a drum bearing the numbers of the units of the minutes, the blades of a second drum bearing the numbers of the tens of the minutes, the blades of a third drum bearing the numbers of the units of the hours, the blades of a fourth drum hearing the numbers of the tens of the hours, blades of a fifth drum bearing the numbers of the units of the days of the month, the blades of a sixth drum bearing the numbers of the tens of the month days, the blades of a seventh drum bearing the name of thedays of the week, the

blades of an eighth drum bearing the name of the months, a power source inside the casing, an anchor escapement operable by the said power source, a Weight coacting with and controlling the said escapement, a gear provided with sixty teeth operated by said power source for rotating a tooth at each minute, a shaft driven by said gear and connected to the drum of the minute units, a differential gear driven by said power source, a shaft mounting said gear, means as sociated with the said differential gear arranged to transmit at each hour the motion to the drum of the hours units, means associated with the said differential gear arranged to transmit the motion to the drum of the units of the days, means associated with the said differential gear arranged to transmit the motion to the drum bearing the name of the months, a head cam mounted on the side of said gear, a vertical lever controlled by said cam, a fork shaped lever, provided with a projection, in operative connection with the said means associated with the differential gear, and means associated with the said vertical lever and with said fork shaped lever arranged to rotate the drum of the week days.

2. An electromechanical wall calendar clock as claimed in claim 1, and including means arranged to transmit the motion from the drum of the units to the drum of the tens, which comprise a cam mounted on the shaft of the units drum, a spring urged fork shaped lever operable by said cam, a claw lever pivoted to said spring urged fork in engagement with a disc fixed to the tens drum, said cam being arranged to rotate, through the fork shaped lever, the tens drum by a fraction of turn at each complete rotation of the unit drum.

3. An electromechanical Wall calendar as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means associated with the differential gear to transmit the motion to the drum of the hour units comprise a shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear, a first worm gear mounted on the said parallel shaft, a shaft perpendicular to the shaft of the worm gear, a second gear on said perpendicular shaft and engaged with said worm gear, a cam mounted on the said perpendicular shaft, a disc mounted on the end of the latter arranged to make steps of & of a revolution and a sector thereon arranged to engage at the end of each twenty-four hour period the said vertical lever to impart thereto a partial rotation, two lugs mounted on the shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear which engage an end of said vertical lever and being arranged to be disengaged from the latter when the vertical lever rotates under the action of the said sector and of the said head cam, a second worm gear mounted on the shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear, said worm being in engagement with. a gear mounted on the shaft of the drum of the hour units, whereby the said drum is made to retate.

4, An. electromechanical wall calendar clock. as claimed in claim 3, including a vertical c aw lever controlled by the cam of the shaft, said claw lever being in went with the drum of the week days, whereby the drum is made to rotate at each complete revolution of the shaft bearing the earn.

5. Anelectromechanical wall calendar clock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means associated with the differential gear for transmitting the rotation to the drum of the units of the month days, comprises a shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear, a worm gear mounted on the said parallel shaft, a second gear in engagement with said worm gear, a pinion mounted on the shaft of the said drum of the units and con nected to said worm gear whereby said drum is made to rotate.

6. An electromechanical wall calendar clock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means associated with the differential gear arranged to transmit the rotation to the drum bearing the name of the month comprise a shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear, a first worm gear in operative engagement with the drum of the unit of the month days, two stop lugs and a second worm gear mounted on said parallel shaft, a shaft perpendicular to the shaft of the worm gear, a second gear mounted on said perpendicular shaft in engagement with said second worm gear, a cam mounted on said perpendicular shaft, a graduated disc provided with forty gracluations mounted at the end of said perpendicular shaft having an extension provided with an edge inwardly bent, this edge having four steps corresponding respectively to the days 28, 29, 3G and o 31, of the month, a lever with two arms arranged to be moved by said cam, said last mentioned lever being provided with an arm substantially horizontal in engagement with a claw lever which engage for rotation the shaft of the drum of the names of the month, and with an arm substantially vertical, a claw lever provided at one end with a pawl and pivoted at the other to the vertical arm of said lever with two arms, a shaft perpendicular to the forward wall of the casing, a toothed wheel thereon, said wheel being provided with forty-eight saw teeth having different heights, the said heights corresponding to the number of the days composing the months comprised in a cycle of four years including a leap year, the pawl of said claw lever being in engagement with the saw teeth of the disc, a lever mounted on a shaft parallel to the forward wall of the casing arranged to penetrate between two teeth of said wheel with forty-eight teeth, a lever having three arms pivoted on a shaft perpendicular to the forward wall of the casing, a vertical arm on said lever being in engagement with the teeth mounted on the shaft parallel to the shaft of the differential gear, a vertical rod connected at one end of the shaft parallel to the forward wall of the casing, a pulley engaging said vertical rod, said pulley being slidable along a shaft carried by an arm of the lever with three arms, a roller fixed to the pulley arranged to face the steps of the bent edge of the extension on the said graduated disc, said steps being arrad to rock the lever with three arms for thus n: the vertical arm of the lever last mentioned from engagement with the lugs mounted on the shaft parallel to the shaft of the (inferential, whereby said parallel shaft quickly rotates to bring the blades of the last day of the month to the first day of the next month.

7. An electromechanical wall calendar clock as claimed in claim 1, a second gear provided with sixty teeth operated by said power $0111 a, a head cam mounted on the side of said second gear, a Vertical lever controlled by said cam, shaft perpendicular to the shaft of said second gear, a cam mounted on said shaft, a fork shaped lever rockable on a shaft parallel to the shaft of said second gear and arranged in operative connection with said cam, a projection on said fork shaped lever, a lever provided with three arms rockable around a shaft perpendicular to the for- 9 ward wall of the casing, an arm of the lever last mentioned being in engagement with the projection on said fork shaped lever, and the other arms of the lever with three arms being in opertive connection with the means associated with I the differential gear arranged to transmit the motion to the drum bearing the name of the months.

8. An electromechanical wall calendar clock as claimed in claim 1, including means for carrying out manual resetting of the minutes, the hours, the days and the name of the month.

REMIGIO SOLARI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Prentiss Apr. 5, 1887 Heene May 18, 1897 Fitch Apr. 28, 1903 Feldkamp Aug. 23, 1927 Greenawalt Feb. 12, 1935 Janson Apr. 23, 1935 Farr May 17, 1949 

